South African Grand Prix
1978 · Round 3 · Midrand, South Africa · Mar 4, 1978Race summary
Victory went to Peterson (from 12th on the grid), with a 0.466s margin. Jones made the biggest gain, from 18th on the grid to 4th (up 14 places). Andretti had a difficult race, dropping from 2nd to 7th.
| Pos | Driver | Team | Grid | Laps | Time / status | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ronnie Peterson | Team Lotus | 12 | 78 | 1:42:15.767 | 9 |
| 2 | Patrick Depailler | Tyrrell | 11 | 78 | +0.466 | 6 |
| 3 | John Watson | Brabham | 10 | 78 | +4.442 | 4 |
| 4 | Alan Jones | Williams | 18 | 78 | +30.986 | 3 |
| 5 | Jacques Laffite | Ligier | 13 | 78 | +1:09.218 | 2 |
| 6 | Didier Pironi | Tyrrell | 14 | 77 | +1 Lap | 1 |
| 7 | Mario Andretti | Team Lotus | 2 | 77 | +1 Lap | 0 |
| 8 | Jean-Pierre Jarier | ATS | 17 | 77 | +1 Lap | 0 |
| 9 | Rolf Stommelen | Arrows | 22 | 77 | +1 Lap | 0 |
| 10 | Hector Rebaque | Team Lotus | 21 | 77 | +1 Lap | 0 |
| 11 | Brett Lunger | McLaren | 20 | 76 | +2 Laps | 0 |
| 12 | Vittorio Brambilla | Surtees | 19 | 76 | +2 Laps | 0 |
| – | Riccardo Patrese | Arrows | 7 | 63 | Engine | 0 |
| – | Jody Scheckter | Wolf | 5 | 59 | Spun off | 0 |
| – | Patrick Tambay | McLaren | 4 | 56 | Accident | 0 |
| – | Gilles Villeneuve | Ferrari | 8 | 55 | Oil leak | 0 |
| – | Carlos Reutemann | Ferrari | 9 | 55 | Spun off | 0 |
| – | Niki Lauda | Brabham | 1 | 52 | Engine | 0 |
| – | Rupert Keegan | Surtees | 23 | 52 | Engine | 0 |
| – | Jochen Mass | ATS | 15 | 43 | Engine | 0 |
| – | Arturo Merzario | Merzario | 26 | 39 | Suspension | 0 |
| – | Jean-Pierre Jabouille | Renault | 6 | 38 | Engine | 0 |
| – | Keke Rosberg | Theodore | 24 | 15 | Clutch | 0 |
| – | Emerson Fittipaldi | Fittipaldi | 16 | 9 | Transmission | 0 |
| – | Eddie Cheever | Hesketh | 25 | 8 | Oil leak | 0 |
| – | James Hunt | McLaren | 3 | 5 | Engine | 0 |